xp_logs | Topaz and Hope

Topaz explores, and ends up meeting Hope.

This school was...quite large.

That was really the only thing on Topaz's mind as she made her way through the halls of the mansion - slowly. She wasn't in quite as much pain as she had been even yesterday, but it was enough to hinder her movements at least a little. She really probably should have been resting, but in her defense, she was in a new place - a new country, even - and natural curiosity was so hard to resist. Her shields were up tight - it was a school, after all, and if experience had taught her anything, it was that schools were breeding grounds for overreaction and hormone-fueled emotions and she just didn't feel like having it all in her head.

Hope looked up from her history book as she saw the shimmer of movement past the door of the sun room. The obvious carefully way the girl was moving with and the fact that she was clearly unfamiliar with her surroundings had her on her feet only a few moments later. It could not be pleasant to move around like that if you are in pain. "Excuse me..." Hope spoke up softly, "Can I help you?"

Topaz turned to the girl who had spoken. Her jaw tightened a bit - pain again, but that could have been a reaction to anything, really, if the girl even noticed. "No." Manners, love, a voice that sounded suspiciously like Alice's spoke up. "Thank you, I am just...looking around."

"This school can be confusing till you learn your way around." Hope stepped away from the door opening, closer to the girl. "Please, come in and sit for a moment..." The 'you look like you could use it' she left unspoken.

"Confusing is one way to put it." She'd been walking for a while already, and was pretty sure she wasn't going to be finding her way back to the suite any time soon. She let her shields slip just a bit, and instantly felt the girl's concern. Were her injuries that obvious? "I...oh, all right," she ceded after a moment. A chance to rest might be nice.

"This room is what we call the sun room." Hope explained as she stepped back, waiting for the girl to enter. After she was seated, Hope took a seat nearby, trying to observe her unnoticed. "I forgot to introduce myself. My name is Hope Abbott." She thought she had heard a British accent and it was clear from the girl's appearance she had an non-Western background.

Topaz looked around the room as the girl - Hope - spoke. She wasn't as good at being discreet as she thought - Topaz knew she was being observed. Brilliant. Now she was a spectacle. "It is nice," she said after a moment, refocusing her attention on Hope. "Sorry, my name is Topaz." She gritted her teeth together a bit as she waited for the usual reaction; generally something along the lines of, 'What kind of name is Topaz?'

"Topaz? That is a lovely, if very different name." Hope repeated the name once to make sure she had heard it correctly. "Were you named for the gemstone?"

The fact that she suddenly became very aware of the pendant hanging around her neck, hidden just beneath her shirt, was all in her head. "Yes." It was basically the truth, after all. "So have you been here long?" She didn't really like talking about her name.

"Not that long compared to some of the other people who live here." Hope gracefully accepted the subject change, smoothly shifting to the other topic. "I arrived last June and have attended school here since then. You must have arrived only very recently though?"

"Yesterday." About as recent as it got. "I'm guessing I'm the newest now." But probably not the strangest, which would be a first for her.

"I think so, unless some does end up arriving today." Hope commented with a small smile. "May I ask where you are from?" Obvious questions... that is what she stuck to since the girl did not seem in a mood to chat that much.

"England." Still being a bit rude, she observed distantly. "Surrey, actually. It's a bit of a joke for the tourists in the summer, they always ask if I can help them find Little Whinging." It had actually gotten annoying, after a while. "I wonder sometimes if they realize the place doesn't exist." No need to make a comment about half those tourists being American, considering that was probably what made up most of the school's population...

"The area is still being flooded by tourists looking for the place Harry Potter grew up? It has been a while since the last movie come out and even longer since the last book came on the market."

"I think it's everyone who grew up with the books who can finally afford to travel," Topaz said with a shrug. "Anyways, the books are timeless...or so I've heard. Have you read them?"

"Yes, I have. I think I was about eight or nine years old when I read the first book." It had in fact been Hope's first foray into the world of more like fantasy books. "I am still quite fond of them. They can be very diverting, but underneath they touch upon many relevant themes."

"As I said - timeless." Topaz vaguely wondered how many jokes could be made about an English witch. She should have asked Amanda about that before she'd let the woman leave her here.

"You have read them as well?" Her comment about the books being timeless seemed to indicate that, but she was not completely sure. "Did you enjoy them?"

"Oh, I am just going off what I have heard." That was an utter lie. She and Alice had actually read them together, and yes, she'd enjoyed them immensely. But she'd never felt inclined to admit that to anyone - her love for the series was a well guarded secret. "It's hard not to hear things, even if you're not a fan."

"That is very much true, especially with such a wide spread phenomenon as Harry Potter. I guess the books contain something that touches the imaginations of many people."

"Who needs imagination when you have the real thing?" Topaz murmured. It had always been a source of amusement for her - watching her schoolmates wave pencils and sticks and calling out nonsense words, pretending they were spells, and knowing she could do what they couldn't.

The real thing? Hope frowned a little. Could it be? "You are able to do magic?" She asked, somewhat stunned.

A small smirk pulled at Topaz's lips. "Just a little bit." There was a part of her that was enjoying Hope's astonishment. "I have a particularly...unique skill set." To say the least.

Hope blinked and shook her head a little. Before she had come here, she had never heard of magic being real. But now two of her classmates were able to do magic? With a deep breath she smoothed out her face though. "That is quite amazing, to be honest. May I ask what makes your skill set so... unique?"

It was ridiculous that Topaz wanted to laugh. That she even felt inclined to laugh. But Hope's reactions were amusing. She bit down the laugh, though, saying, "The magic is wired to my mutation. I cast a spell, whatever happens and the power behind it is based on the emotions of the people around me. Or my own, if I'm desperate."

"Emotions?" Hope repeated the word that caught her attention.

"Oh...yes." Hiding her mutation had always been a must in the magical world - Luca had told her people wouldn't understand, and he was probably right. But this was a school for mutants. The girl sitting in front of her was more than likely a mutant. No one would judge her here. "I'm also an empath."

"Empath..." She repeated the word slowly. "That means you can read emotions, correct?" Hope remembered from her lessons in psionic theory. It did make sense in a strange way though, if she drew her power from emotions.

"That's right." It was half right, at least. No use in revealing her full bag of tricks right away, after all. "What is your mutation? ...If you don't mind me asking." She wasn't exactly well-versed in what passed for acceptable questions with other mutants.

"I am an astral projector." Hope had dealt with the question often enough now that she didn't hesitate answering it much. "I leave my body and I hover above it like a kind of spirit." That included learning that some explanation often did come in handy when talking about her mutation.

"...Ah." Astral projection. That had been Luca's favorite spell when he was still...Luca. "That must be disconcerting."

"It can be very disconcerting, yes." Hope agreed neutrally. "It is a very... interesting mutation to have."

"That can probably be said about many mutations," Topaz pointed out. "I believe I saw someone with pointed ears and claws earlier?"

"I am sure that is true. A man with pointed ears and claws?" Hope thought quickly. "I think you must mean Mr. Gibney. He teaches English here. Was he barefoot?"

He was the English teacher. Of course. "I think he was. I didn't really notice, to be honest. He was blonde, if that helps."

"Yes, that is Mr. Gibney. He might look a little strange, but he is not the strangest looking teacher we have. Mr. Sefton is blue, has three fingers on each hand and a tail." Hope remembered clearly how stunned she was at meeting him, so she figured it could not hurt to 'warn' Topaz a little. "He is very kind though."

"Wow." Well...it was a school for mutants. "I am definitely not the strangest person in the school anymore," she mumbled, more to herself than to Hope.

"We are in good company here." Hope agreed neutrally.

At this point, the company she kept couldn't get much worse, Topaz reflected as she looked around the room again. "Living here is going to be quite...interesting, isn't it?"

"It is something I never could have imagined." Hope looked a little closer at the girl and frowned again, this time more deeply. "I am sorry, Topaz, but may I be very frank?"

"Hmn. Not very often you meet someone who asks first," Topaz noted idly. "But yes, of course. Go ahead."

"I know it's very forward, but you look very pale. May I show the way back to either your suite of the Medlab? It might be prudent to get a little rest." Hope spoke a little hesitant, not used to being so forward.

Topaz blinked once, surprised. "The concern is appreciated." If not entirely unexpected. "I don't think the Medlab will be necessary, though. However...I do think I need help getting back to my suite." This place was quite large, after all.

Hope stood up, quickly gathering her schoolbooks. "Then I will show you back to the suite. With whom are you staying?"

Oh she probably should have paid more attention when they were telling her names. "...I believe my roommate's name is Molly?"

"Molly? Then I know where your suite is. I am staying in the one across it." Hope waited patiently for a gingerly moving Topaz to climb to her feet.

Relaxing obviously hadn't been a good idea. Topaz was incredibly aware of every ache and pain, as well as the fact that Hope was watching her. "It'll get easier to navigate this place, right?" She asked, hoping to distract the other girl.

"You will learn to find your way around soon." Hope reassured her as she slowly walked besides Topaz, keeping half an eye out to see if she needed assistance. "In the meantime many people will be very willing to show you the way.'

"Brilliant," Topaz sighed. It was going to be a long few weeks of depending on everyone else for help.